Web Design & Online Marketing

Are you content with your content?

If you’ve been kind enough to read through more than one line of our blog posts, you’ll have come to realise that we value content quite highly. There is an actual and valid reason for this…

Content, in short, is everything that exists on a website that a potential audience engages with.

This includes the traditional aspects – slogans, taglines, “about” pages and actual written content – and alternative, more eye catching content such as imagery, videos or social feeds. The content on your website is essentially what will set it apart from the rest, but how effective is content on a website and how should it be used?

If you’re in the process of having a website developed, you’ll already, hopefully have a business strategy in place, a target market in mind and presumably you will have spent a lot of time conducting research! Research is essential for building a business that can effectively target its audience and the same logic should be applied to your content. Determining just who your customers are or could be and understanding who will be using your website will no doubt provide you with some clarity as to what kind of tone you should be using.

Once you’ve established the tone, you’ll need to do some analysis of your target audience so that you can understand how they engage with or absorb content. Consumers looking for a one off service or a short term relationship with a brand will absorb short, snappy and concise content whereas if your business is looking to build long lasting relationships, clients will want more detailed information such as blog content and case studies etc..

It really all depends on identifying your customer base and taking steps to understand how they interact with your brand. Research, research and research!

Never be afraid to experiment with different kinds of content either. Having something like Google Analytics installed on your website will give you insight into the content your audience interacts with the best, from there you can tailor your content and make it more specific to how your customer base is behaving when visiting your website.

Another very important thing to remember is to create content for your audience, not yourself! Its very difficult to distinguish between what you feel is right and what is right for your business, or more importantly, your customers. Establish a balance and if you do find it too much of a chore, give the team here at CyberaDigital a call, we have a dedicated crew of content masters who are more than ready to help when needed!

So what should the content you create achieve? Content shouldn’t be something you do just for the sake of doing it, it should have an objective. There are numerous reasons to create good website content, but here are a few we’ve handpicked:

Be Informative

There is a lot of information on the internet – we’re aware that we’re not breaking new ground with that sentence. The point we’re making is, your active customer base will have a demand for content from your business. Informing your customers that you know what you’re doing, that you have expertise in your field is key part of what will set you apart from your competitors.

Be Attractive

One of the most significant reasons for creating good content for your website is the positive impact it can have on your visibility in Google searches. More commonly known as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), the more consistent and relevant the content on your website is, the more favourably Google’s search algorithms will see you. Achieving page one of Google for a search term is a hugely valuable tool for any business as it not only places you at the forefront of results but attracts external stakeholders to take more of an interest in your business, and that’s even before we’ve touched on how content can go viral. Your blog post or campaign could be shared amongst an audience of professionals, in turn making it a topic of discussion with your brand name being at the centre of it all!

Engage

We talk a LOT about engagement. We have an “Engagement” box in the office that contains a dollar, donated every time someone uses the word Engagement.

Jokes aside, content is an opportunity for you to connect with potential and existing customers. Engagement is when people respond to that content in a measurable way. Audiences are reluctant to share content unless you can produce content that relates to them in some way. Ideally that engagement we are seeking will come in the form of customers taking proactive steps in sharing your content on their social channels, such as Twitter or LinkedIn.

So why is content so important? To put it bluntly, a website is blank without content. Design, development and content are the essentials to creating any website. Much like design and development, content needs to be regularly analysed, maintained and updated. With a well thought out content strategy you can engage (there it is again!) with more people and build up more leads for your business.

Your website is the online representation of your business. Would you turn up to a meeting with a prospective client and sit there in complete silence? No, you’d talk to them about what you do, you’d show your passion for your business and you’d build that rapport so that they become a customer with longevity. Think in the same terms when it comes to producing content for your website. Let your content inform, answer questions and fairly represent your business ethos at all times.